Cleaning implement



Filed Oct. 25, 1945 Nov; 21, 1950 SEEWALD 2,531,304

CLEANING IMPLEMENT :2 Sheets-Sheet 1 9 Z a p 7110/ a 4' & 9 TIT 4 Inventor Lou s See wa/o By @Mm (wi way 3M3? Nov. 21, 1950 L. SEEWALD CLEANING IMPLEMENT 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Oct. 23, 1945 I m/entar 1, 0013 Seawa/d.

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Patented Nov. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLEANING IMPLEMENT Louis .Seewald, Amarillo, Tex.

Application October 23, 1945; Serial'No. 623,922

4; Claims.

My invention-relates to improvements in cleaning implements, for use especially,.but'. not neces'.-

sarily, in cleaning toilet bowls and the like;

The; invention is, designed with the primary;

objects in: view of; providing. anv implement for cleaning toilet bowls easily and quickly without:

soiling the hands, and with a; swabbing action and achemical agent whereby thebowlszmay be rendered sanitary after. use,

Another; object is to provide an: implement. of

the character for the, purposes: above set forthv andwhich embodies a swab particularly shaped and otherwise adapted for cleaning. toilet bowls,.

and: which forms. a part of the; implement d6? tachable' therefrom without handling the same andisadapted for disposal down the: toilet bowl without clogging thev same: or; the. discharge line? of said bowL.

Other and subordinate objects also comprehended' by my invention, together with the precise nature of my improvements, and the manifold advantages thereof, will become' readily apparent when the succeeding description and claims are read with reference to the drawings Figure 3 is a view in side elevation, drawn to:

an enlarged; scale, I

Figure 4 is a. view in side elevation-of the tongs,v

with the swab detached,

Figure 5 is a view; in plan-.oitheswab drawn to a further enlarged scale,

Figure, 6 is. a view in plan, illustrating the manner in which the outer layer and the liner of the sack of the swab are arranged,

Figure '7 is a view in perspective of the pad detached,

Figure 8 is a similar view of the stiffener sheet of the sack, and

Figure 9 is a View in transverse section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 5.

Reference being had to the drawings by numerals, my improved cleaning implement, as shown, comprises, as its basic elements, a pair of handling-forming tongs I, and a swab 2.

The tongs I comprise a pair of arms 3 crossed, intermediate the ends thereof, pincers fashion, and pivoted together, as at 4. Rear end handgrip loops 5 are provided on the arms 3 for operating: thesame to swing the. front endszthere' of intocand. from clamping relatiom Thefrontendsof the? arms 3 are provided witha pair'ofi depending, jaw" forming, loops 6 adapted, whem said. ends are moved intov clamping relation; to;

assume parallel, side-by-side relation to gripth'ea I swab 2 therebetween in a manner" presently de scribed. The: loops 6 are preferablyfcrmed by; bending; the: arms 3. downwardly and; rearwardl y as at 1:, and then forwardly asfat 8:. Thesloopsiif; terminate. in oblique; lateral stabilizing: 1001:5519; the;- purpose of which will. presently appear;

The swab- 2' isof elongated, rectangular forml in plan with a, transversely rounded bottom- III,-. a longitudinal, central, upstanding; topv flap: Hi, and .ttop. sides.- I 2 inclining downwardly from said; flap II to said bottom; AsbestshowninFigurer 9,, th swab 2, has: the: form. of? a stuffed sacks The sack is formed of an outer, elongated}, rec! tangularlayer, or sheet, of reticulated material: and which isdesignated I tandpreferablyformed; of; cotton netting, with a. similar liner layer, .or sheet, I4= preferably formed of absorbent. tissuepaper. The layer or: sheet I4 is formed with-a; central. rectangular opening I5. thereinv which: exposesthenouter layer, or sheet I 3 therethrough: A pad, It of: rectangular form and loosely'packed' cotton withsuitably located slits; I11 therein tm render the same readily flexible covers-thempem ing, I5. The-pad, I6 is. of the requisite size to slightly overlap the edges ofv the opening I5,,as, shownindotted lines inlFigure 6. The: top sides I2.. of the-swab. 2 are reinforced and shaped by: a stiifener layer, or sheet, I8, of stiff blotting;

;; paper bent, as at I9, along its median line into obtuse, angled form, and between which. and the bottom III saidipadj I6" is confinedlso as to form; a pocket 20 betweenvsaid pad and said sheet, I8, which is-zfilled" with a, suitable chemical cleaning. agent preferably of granular or powdered form and as represented at 2I. The flap I I is stuffed, as at 22, with cotton to provide bulging sides on said flap for facilitating gripping the same.

In forming the described swab, the outer and the liner layers, or sheets, I3, I4 are folded over the sides of the pad I6 and over the stiffener I8 so that the end edges thereof will align, and are stitched together along the side edges thereof, as at 23, 24, also at the end edges thereof, as at 25, and across the end portions thereof, as at 26, to form the flap II. The chemical agent 2 I, and the cotton stufiing 22 may be introduced into the sack at any suitable time between stitching operations.

In using the described implement, the swab 2 is clamped between the loops 1, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 with said loops gripping opposite sides of the flap I I, and the stabilizing loops 9 engaged with the top sides I2 to prevent the swab from turning laterally of the tongs I. With the loops 7 thus engaging the flap II, the tongs I may be used as a handle for manipulatin the swab in a toilet bowl, not shown, with a scrubbing action, the stabilizing loops 9 providing for exertin pressure downwardly against the swab 2 by the tongs and in a manner to compress the swab 2 without impairing the usefulness thereof. By dipping the swab 2 in the water in said bowl, said swab may be saturated with the water which readily finds its way through the outer and the liner layers, or sheets, I3, I 4, and through the pad I6 to the cleaning agent 2|, thus dissolving said agent so that the same may be readily squeezed outwardly through the pad I6 and said layers or sheets I3, I4 for use as an aid in cleaning operations. When the cleaning operation is completed, the tongs I may be manpulated in a manner which will be understood, to cause the loops 7 to release the'flap II and said swab may be disposed of by flushing the bowl in the usual manner. Obviously, when a swab 2 is thus disposed of, it may be replaced by a new one. in the tongs I. As will be appreciated, the reticulated outer layer, or sheet I3, and the absorbent liner layer, or sheet, I4 provide for ready passage of water into the swab 2 to the chemical agent 2|, and the pad I6 lends itself readily to the' passage of water therethrough, while at the sametime preventing'too much water from reaching'the chemical agent. The outer layer, or. sheet, I3 facilitates scrubbing and the lining layer, or sheet, I4 and the stiffener sheet I8 provide for sufiicient rigidity'in the swab 2 to prevent the same from flattening out to an extent impairing its usefulness. All of the component parts of the swab 2, as will be evident, may be compressed in the bowl to'squeeze the water out of the same to compress the swab 2, after it has been used for a while so that it may be readily passed down out of the bowl by flushing without danger of clogging the flushing line.

The foregoing will, it is believed, sufiice to impart a clear understanding of my invention without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is sus-, ceptible of modification without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1.- An implement of the class described for use with a swab including a central top flap, said implement comprising a handle forming pair of tongs having front ends adapted for gripping opposite sides of said flap, said front end comprising a pair of opposed depending clamping loops adapted for engagement with opposite sides of the flap, said loops terminating in lateral loops adapted for engaging the top of the swab upon opposite sides of said flap to stabilize the swab against turning relative to said clamping loops.

2. An implement of the class described comprisin a handle, and a swab at one end of the handle including a sack embodying an outer layer of reticulated material and having a stiffener in the top thereof, and a liner layer of absorbent flexible material, having an opening therein at the bottom of the sack, said sack having therein absorbent padding one side of which covers said opening and a chemical cleaningagent of finely divided form in said sack between said padding and said stiffener.

3. An implement of the class described comprising a handle, and a swab at one end of the handle including a sack embodying an outer layer of reticulated material, and a liner layer of absorbent flexible material, said sack having therein absorbent padding and a chemical cleaning agent of finely divided form, and a flexible stiffening sheet in said sack backing the padding and chemical agent.

4. An implement of the class described comprisin a handle, and a swab at one end of the handle including a sack embodying an outer layer of reticulated material, and a liner layer of absorbent flexible material, said sack having therein absorbent padding and a chemical cleaning agent of finely divided form, said liner layer having an opening therein and said padding directly engaging said outer layer through the opening to facilitate saturation of the padding by water by dipping the swab in water.

LOUIS SEEWALD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 528,267 Wool Oct. 30, 1894 613,355 Burton Nov. 1, 1898 756,100 Crumb Mar. 29, 1904 1,655,215 Banta Jan. 3, 1928 1,786,513 Zuckerman Dec. 30, 1930 1,870,369 Lunsford Aug. 9, 1932 1,913,770 Olenik June 13, 1933 2,038,958 Reach Apr. 28, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 58,395 Austria Mar. 26, 1913 

